Christmas Eve rush chokes city roads

When Christmas is around, colour and festivities cannot be far away, leave alone the merry-making. And then follows huge traffic snarls. As Delhiites hopped out of their homes on Christmas Eve, massive jams were witnessed at various important and strategic locations across the city. As the weekend coincides with Christmas, the roads were absolutely choked.

Pedestrians were seen stuck in traffic and motorists were stalled in several places in South Delhi and New Delhi areas which seemed the most affected.

Saloni Bajaj who was stuck in the traffic at Vasant Kunj said: “Unending congestion on the 2 km stretch connecting Andheri Mor to Vasant Kunj is a matter of daily suffering. There are not even any traffic cops to assist in clearing the congestion.”

Dhaula Kuan also saw immense jam and people were seen struggling to carve out a way out in the evening.

Vatasala, a commuter who was struck in the congestion, said: “Dhaula Kuan is totally congested. We have been standing in the same place for over half an hour”.

The traffic cops had earlier issued an advisory asking people to avoid some stretches in New Delhi which has prominent churches like the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Free Church at 10 Sansad Marg and The Cathedral Church of the Redemption at 1 Church Road. Congestion was also seen at Gol Dakkhana in New Delhi as well as reports of traffic snarls also poured in from Karol Bagh.

Rahul, another person harassed by the endless queues of vehicles on the road, was struck in Uttam Nagar in West Delhi. He said: “There is a huge jam near Uttam Nagar East Metro station.

Elaborate security arrangements were seen across 250 churches in the Capital by the Delhi Police. Security was beefed up at most of them where heavy crowd for Christmas celebration was expected. Paramilitary forces including the Sashastra Seema Bal, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Central Reserve Police Force have also been deployed as part of security measures, apart from local police.

Sacred Heart Cathedral saw massive security arrangements outside its premises. Local police along with paramilitary forces were seen outside the church. Father Lawrence of the Cathedral, said: “We are quite satisfied with the security arrangements outside the cathedral”.